God's Brew (Part 2)

DIMENSION: ANIME (The One that Pays to Save the Day)

That was definitely strange. Yugi usually didn't bother Serenity for any reason, but now it had him wondering what happened. Tristan called him up in the middle of the day and said Joey was doing something stupid.

It didn't matter that he had a presentation over his latest upgrades to his game, he had to come. Joey and trouble usually were intense words to use together. With Serenity's strange act, he was even more concerned.

He stepped into the café where Tristan said he wanted to meet. "Hey, Tristan. I just bumped into Serenity and she looked terrible. What's so wrong with Joey?"

Tristan seemed confused by that. "I don't know, I doubt he'd tell her much about this. Sit down, Yugi."

Yugi sat down and heard the few details Tristan knew. Joey wouldn't be back for their yearly meetup, but he didn't share much else except Mai Valentine was involved.

"He said to do whatever we wanted, he didn't care," Tristan muttered. "He's probably going to ask for help from you soon. Guarantee it."

That'd be okay. Yugi had plenty of money, if Joey needed help, he'd help. "I hope he calls soon. I don't know what he needs, but I'd help however I could." Yugi's games had been successful, he'd be able to get Mai set up in some kind of a new life to get away from whatever mess she'd been in if he had to. He just doubted Joey would go for that.

Not with this guy's past. But, he knew Joey. He couldn't risk leaving her behind. Not Mai Valentine. Joey had connected to her when they were younger, and even years later, he doubted he'd leave her in a bind.

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Joey knocked back on Mai's door. Either way this ended, he'd be ready. Nobody answered it at first. ///Joey: The dear Skeezy must be back./// He wasn't giving up, he knocked harder. "Hey, Skeezy! I want to talk to you!"

Mai answered the door. "I told you he ain't here, now go away!"

He caught his foot in the door though. "Mai, there's no way you love a guy that is as bad as this guy. I know you. He's got you wrapped up in something. Give me a few minutes to talk to you? Just a few? Afterwards, I'll beat it. I'll amscray. Just, a little talking?"

"Oh, like you'd leave." Mai opened the door and then left in a huff to the other side of the room, pulling out the God's Brew. "Damn you, Joey, I didn't ask you to interfere in my life and try to be some knight again. I don't need one anymore." She took a big gulp of it.

Joey went over and grabbed some God's Brew too. "Well, I'm stealing some of this then." He took a glass. "Now? Let's start talking about your soon to be husband. I met him some time ago in a duel tournament. I got a whiff of some things he was involved in. The deeper I got, the more I had to investigate."

Oh yeah. "You're a cop, aren't you?"

"Used to be going for a detective," Joey admitted. "I kept getting too deep though in stuff I wasn't involved in. I was tracking someone and I was watching someone involved with the target. She disappeared. To this day, she's still lost."

Mai squirmed slightly. "Yeah. People tend to disappear sometimes." Yeah, that look from him. He didn't tell her that for fun. He wanted her story in return. "It started with a duel."

Joey came closer, intent on hearing everything.

"I won. We dueled again. He won. He wanted to duel again after winning. It was strange someone wanting to duel after they beat me, but I went ahead and played him again. He started to give me a hundred bucks every duel we played, whether I won or not." She sighed. "He was just trying to find out about me. What made me tick. I did the same thing, started looking up stuff on a guy that kept paying me to duel him. I didn't see good things, so I told him I didn't want to duel again. He got." She paused. "Angry about that."

"You knew real early he was dangerous."

"Yeah. He tried to make up for his anger, which I didn't want no part of." She spread out her hand. "I still didn't know what I was getting into, I just went 'Mai Valentine is not about that!'. I thought he got the hint. I heard nothing until after the competition. I went home. There were presents and flowers, and he apparently bribed the landlord to let him in to drop it all off. Along with that was a list of recommendations. People who I should call to check him out."

"You dialed up the phone to find that info?" Joey asked. "I'd be busy calling in some backup. He got into your place and everything."

"Yeah, which is why I dialed up them numbers," Mai insisted. "I had nothing to lose. Not like it made any difference if he traced me at that point. What I found? Wasn't recommendations to how great a guy he'd been. Every single caller was a warning. Warning me not to run away. They were all deserters I rang up, each one shocked I even had their number." She sighed. "Most of them said don't call again and they were packing up and moving off. I got the message loud and clear."

She was quiet for a short time then drank more of her God's Brew. "I planned on saying yes next time I played him. Instead."

"He already knew he won. Why be coy." Bastard. "When does this big old shindig happen?"

"Skeezy doesn't do average. It'll be next year," she answered. "About ten months away or so."

"Ten months. You could try and break free now, with the right connections though?" Joey offered. "Yugi's doing well. I know with the help of my friends, I can find a way to pull you out of here."

"I didn't do anything different," she said, not answering his question. "He'd been obsessed with me since the first game. I never understood it. I flirted with him a little at first, but I do that with everyone. It's just who I am," she admitted. "I didn't do much though, and then after seeing what he was really about, I shut all that down. It?" She shook her head. "I don't know why he's got a thing for me."

Joey tapped the bar area. "You did nothing, Mai. You're attractive. Feisty as hell, even though he knows you won't cross him. You even play duel cards. He likes all that."

"Well I don't, I hate it!" She was starting to bounce back. "Mai Valentine should be a free bird, I don't wanna be some wife stuck inside and having baby after baby. Sure, I like the money, but I'm just . . . looking at the only bright side I got."

"Then, we are getting you out." He stole the bottle and poured another glass himself as he pulled out his phone.

"Joey, it's too dangerous. No. I'm not involving anybody else."

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Domino City

Yugi and Tristan had ordered food, waiting to see if Joey called. Joey was both smart and stupid. He'd grown since high school, but the more emotional the situation, the more chances he tended to take. He aimed for a promising career and lost it because he got too involved in a local kidnapping. He couldn't let go.

The food was long gone. They tried to pass time by talking about their day. Then Yugi told him about his new designs. Then, running out of stuff, Tristan brought up another subject.

"I hear Téa got a new gig again. Maybe we should do something to sort of recognize the role?" Tristan suggested.

Yugi's face fell in a goofy smile. "Yeah. She'll be the cutest undead backup person on stage. I don't want to miss Téa." She tried to take a trip home every year that she'd done good. She wasn't a huge star, usually just backup roles. For what she dreamed, it wasn't of course. But? She was happy. She danced and acted, and was positively radiant when she visited. "I can't blame Joey. Last time she came, I had been away. I had to show off my new game."

"Yeah, poor you. Games that bring you a fortune had to be shown off so you couldn't see her. Priorities, Yugi. You couldn't skip that," Tristan said. "I'm sure it wasn't too big a deal."

"I see her once a year, and it was a big deal to miss that." He offered to pay for another ticket or to come see her, but she just said the same thing Tristan just did. She'd see him next year and not to spend money just to see her.

It would be year two that he hadn't seen her if they canceled. "Joey would have had some good ideas on what to do."

They stared at that phone until it finally rang. Tristan picked it up on the first ring. "Joey, you better be okay!"

"I am okay, Tristan. Is Yug there? You know, the guy who actually owns the phone?" He answered.

"I will put you on speaker," Tristan said as he messed with the phone. He put it back on the table. "And?"

"We need a plan to help Mai disappear," Joey said. "She's in deep. Real deep. This isn't an easy guy to pull away from. She isn't even trying."

"Got an idea," Tristan offered. "Téa is coming soon. You know, the one friend your standing up to help another one that stole your soul? Yugi and I can help pay for Téa to take her back with her to New York City. Then, she can get her own life walking New York's streets and stop hanging onto you as her -"

"Tristan!" This was not a time to let old grudges in. Still, Yugi was too late. He didn't even hear another sound from the phone. Joey hung up. "Why? Joey called me for help and you pulled that?" He took back his phone and redialed Joey again. No answer.

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